The Start of a Long-Running Gag
by Laid-Back Brit
Summary: Even way before he turned to a life of crime and became an infamous wanted thief, Eugene Fitzherbet - or Flynn Rider, as he preferred to be known as - was a narcissistic, overly self-confident lad. In this tale that takes place during his youth, when he jumps at the chance to get his likeness painted, the youngster's vanity comes back to bite him in a way that will never leave him.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled.**

* * *

"C'mon, fellas! Get your brushes dapped in colour, slap it on your paper and create the best portrait you'll ever make in your young lives! It's not every day you get to paint a guy as good looking as I!"

Behind their easels, the children exchanged irate, fed-up looks. They had been looking forward to Art Day at the orphanage all week, thinking getting the chance would be a lot of fun. It was most unfortunate that of all the children, the only one who'd volunteered to be the model had been the most egotistical one. They hadn't even started to capture him yet and already he was vainly showing off.

"How do you wanna paint me? Like this?" The young boy struck a pose. "Or like this?" He quickly changed to another. "Maybe like this?" He switched to different posture. "I could go into different poses every three seconds so you'd get every ounce of my cool stature!"

"Gosh darn it, Eugene!" A girl snapped, resisting the urge to throw her paintbrush at the cocky model. "How d'you expect us to paint you perfectly if you don't keep still!"

"Hey! I can't help it if I'm so awesome from all angles!" The boy smugly smiled in the direction of a nearby mirror in the room – before turning to scowl at the girl. "And it's not Eugene, it's Flynn! Flynn Rider!"

The girl was just about to splash her paint in the direction of the self-loving model – when the door opened and the orphanage keeper stepped in.

"Haven't any of you made a start yet?" she asked, glancing around at the blank sheets attaches to each of the children's easels. "I thought you were all eager to paint!"

"We are!" A boy huffed, pointing towards the centre of the room with his brush. "But we don't wanna paint _him_!"

The keeper turned to the figure who the boy was pointing at. "Now, Eugene! What have I told you about making a scene of yourself?"

"But that's precisely what I'm supposed to do!" The young model went into another pose! I'm setting up an awesome scene which everyone around me has to paint!"

The keeper sighed with a wearily shake of her head.

"And you know what this scene everyone's gonna paint is awesome? 'Cuz it features me; Flynn Rider!"

"Alright, alright, that'll do, Flynn Rider!" The keeper half-laughed as she went over the overconfident young boy, placing her hands onto his shoulders to stop him switching poses. "If you don't keep still, no one here will ever be able to paint you! Then there'll be no portraits of you to hang up around the orphanage!"

Suitably convinced, Flynn ceased changing his postures as he stayed in one place, giving one final boastful order to the children around him. "C'mon, guys! Paint me in all my good-looking nature! All of you are to create amazing portraits of the legend that is Flynn Rider!"

With that, Flynn went quiet as he finally stood still - which was difficult from all the excitement he was bursting with over having pictures of him being painted.

As the children glanced at each other, all of them smirked craftily behind their essials. Each one of them was determined to paint Flynn in a way he would never forget. They dunked their bushes into their pots and quietly set to work...

"All finished, kids!"

From all around the soundless, still boy, he heard all the other children answer the orphanage keeper together. "_Yeeeeeeeessssssss!"_

"Oh, finally!" Flynn broke his silence with relief as he came out of his pose. "It's hard work standing still for someone like me who's always gotta be on the go – but I know it'll be worth it to see all these paintings of me and only me!"

Eagerly, Flynn glanced from one child to the next who were stood behind their easels facing away from him. "I think I'll look at yours first! No, yours! No, wait, yours! Ugh! It's so hard to decide which picture of my cool self to gaze upon first!"

"Then why don't you look at them all at the same time?"

On the keeper's suggestion, Flynn's face glowed in excitement at the thought of seeing so many portraits of himself all at once. "Oh yeah! Can I do that? Can I? Can I, please?"

"Very well!" The keeper chuckled heartily. "Alright, children! Show Flynn your paintings of him!"

Together, the children took their respective paintings off into their hands. Coming from behind their easels, they stood all around Flynn, then turned their sheets around slowly so he could see their pictures of him.

Flynn's face fell, his jaw dropping a thousand miles with immense shock.

"_Whaaaaaaaat?!_"

The other orphans had captured him alright. They all had managed to use their paint to recreate his muscular body, his were short hair and even his cocky smile. They'd even filled his clothes with the very correct colours.

However, there was one feature of his which every one of the children had gotten entire wrong. Some of them had painted it very large. Others had painted it very long. Some had portrayed it in very strange shapes while others even went as far as to twist it into swirls. Not a single one of them had painted this feature of Flynn's correctly – and this succeeded to outrage him to no end.

The children sneered in amusement at the big-headed boy's reactions to their pictures of him. The fact every single one of them had gotten a feature of his wrong wasn't a mistake. They had gone out of their way to paint it incorrectly so as to get out of Flynn the very reaction he was giving.

"No!" Flynn glanced all around with horror at the inaccurate portraits of himself. "This can't be! No way! You all seriously did not paint me _this_ wrong!"

"What's the matter, Eugene?" The orphanage keeper asked, surprised. "What's wrong with all these pictures the other children painted of you?"

With an outraged look directed at the keeper, Flynn gestured around at the portraits of himself that all had a feature of his painted completely wrong in such an insulting, unflattering manner…

"_They just can't get my nose right!"_

* * *

**The end.**


End file.
